They would ask me what actors I saw in the roles. I would tell them, and they’d say “Oh that’s interesting.” And that would be the end of it.
--Elmore Leonard, in 2000, on the extent of his input for Hollywood's adaptation of his novels

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Fiona Jayde's "Cold Victory"

Fiona Jayde is "is an author of kickass, action packed, steamy romances, possesses a brown belt in Tae Kwon Do and blue belt in Aikido, a web developer, scared to death of heights, loves jazz piano, can bench-press about 20 pounds — with effort, was taught English by Nora Roberts and Growing Pains, and when not plotting murder and mayhem enjoys steamy romance novels, sexy spy thrillers, murky mysteries and movies where things frequently blow up."

Here she shares some casting ideas for an adaptation of her novella, Cold Victory:

I rarely associate the characters I see in my head with people already in existence. Perhaps this is because I don't write "visually" but instead focus on the inner core of the character and layer in visual cues later during revisions.

However, in my recent release Cold Victory, my lead hero - Commander Galen Stark - came to me in a very specific form -based on the wrestler turned actor John Cena. That's right - the WWE star who's recently been starring in all these macho movies. (And while I love macho movies where things blow up, I can't say I saw any of his... Yet.)

Somehow, when I saw Stark in my head, he looked like John Cena. Huge strong body, strong hero's jaw, low brusque voice, commanding presence, graceful despite the bulky muscles. And there's muscles. Plenty of em. I saw a video of Cena talking about his girlfriend with his face just glowing, and I knew I had Stark right there - big tough guy with a soft spot for the heroine.

As far as my heroine - Zoya Scott - I can't say I had an actress in mind. This is typically my MO - I see the characters in my head, but rarely do they resemble anyone. If I were to cast Zoya - a hotshot pilot with a feminine side - I'd ask for Katee Sackhoff.

Perhaps some would argue she would be typecast - having already played a hot shot pilot in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica. And perhaps I'm biased, since I know she'd do the hotshot pilot role incredibly well. But in addition to the badass chick qualities, Katee Sackhoff has shown an incredible range of emotions - from love to hate, betrayal and redemption - which would be perfect for Zoya. She'd have to dye her hair red, but those are just logistics.

It would be interesting to see these two paired together - both of them kickass in their own way, as actors and as the roles they would play.

“Compared to a novel, a film is like an economy pizza where there are no olives, no ham, no anchovies, no mushrooms, and all you’ve got is the dough.”
--Louis de Bernières, author of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin